A/N: I always figured Mac was military at one point. This chapter goes into that a little bit.
"Sir," Carter said, hurrying to catch up with O'Neill as he walked down the hallway away from her.
"Colonel," He answered.
"I just talked to General Hammond, I think this is going to be important."
He nodded. "What's goin' on?"
"He told me about Jack Dalton. The Dalton from this reality."
"The hardened criminal?"
"Hardly. He went to desperate measures to tell the world what he'd figured out about the Stargate program, and the SGA picked up on him. Sir, they didn't put him in jail. They hired him."
"This is important because..."
"Because it means that Dalton wasn't wrongfully convicted at all, because he was never accused of any crime. That's just his cover story."
"His cover story is that he's in prison?" O'Neill said incredulously.
Carter shrugged. "Ours is still 'deep space radar telemetry'. The SGA isn't the best at coming up with cover stories. They assumed that because Dalton didn't have any living family, no one would be curious enough to wonder why he disappeared off the face of the Earth. Quite literally."
"No living biological family." O'Neill said.
"Yes."
"So, what's the plan for dealing with the MacGyver locked up in one of the conference room 'cells' right now?"
"We have permission to have him sign a confidentiality agreement, and then tell him everything."
o-O-o-O-o
"What?" MacGyver said, looking at the two figures standing in front of him.
"It's a lot to process," Daniel said, taking a seat across from Mac.
"So you're telling me that Jack is right?"
Sam nodded. "Yes. He's right about everything. The gate in orbit, secret military program, everything."
"Intergalactic enemies?"
"Unfortunately."
MacGyver sighed. "Wow. Okay. If this really is a highly protected military secret, then why are you telling me?"
"We want you to work with us as well." Sam said plainly. "Anyone who can single-handedly shut down the gate system with less than 24 hours to study it is someone I want to work with. To be honest with you Mac, I'm impressed."
He scoffed. "Seriously?"
"Yes. We're both serious. If you agree, you'll have to be trained. You're going to literally disappear, just like Jack did. If you want, we can probably work on a "on a long term mission" type story instead of a "jailed" one. Do you have anyone who is going to come looking for you?"
MacGyver nodded. "Yes. I work for the Phoenix Foundation. My boss usually is the one sending me on the missions though. He'll need an explanation but should stop asking questions when he knows I'm safe."
"Any family or close friends?"
"No." MacGyver answered without hesitation.
"Okay. Let's talk about getting the gate system back online."
o-O-o-O-o
It took less than a minute for Mac to actually undo the lock out he'd placed on the system, but Carter spent nearly an hour with him, making him put it back on and off, learning how he did it.
He'd come up with a brilliant work around for the security controls, a vulnerability that even she hadn't spotted until he highlighted the text on the screen.
"It's a good thing I'm a good guy." Mac remarked, as he showed her how he'd created his own security code.
She nodded. "I'm looking forward to spending more time with you."
He raised his eyebrows with a smile. "Oh?"
"What? No, not like that." She smiled back. "You think outside the box, as cliche as that is. I want to know more about how your brain works. You're a valuable asset to this program."
A long pause stretched on.
"I'd be giving up a lot," He said simply.
She nodded. "We all do. Our families, friends. We've left some, lost others. It never gets any easier."
Mac sighed. "You know, I used to be in the military," He said. She nodded. It had been in his records.
"Marine corps. I was young. Thought I was invincible. My unit, we were tight. We trained hard together, became close." His voice trailed off. "Too close..."
Sam looked down. She knew where this was going.
"This guy, Clayman, was with me. It wasn't supposed to be dangerous. He asked me if I wanted to go first, I said no, I'd watch his back. We were supposed to be safe. But there was a hidden mine that we hadn't removed."
He stopped, looking up at Carter. "It was quick. That's the only comfort I had at the time. I-" He looked down again.
She waited for a beat before speaking.
"You know, it's always the worst for those of us left. I've been doing this a long time. I've lost people. Friends as close as family. Sometimes as a result of my actions or inactions. I just think about how they would want to be remembered. The person that they were, not their death."
She gave him a warm smile, waiting for him to look up and make eye contact. After a minute, he did.
"You okay?"
He exhaled sharply, a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.
"No. You're never okay."
She nodded grimly. "You're right. But you move on, just like they would have wanted you to."
Sam gave him one more gentle smile before standing. "I'm going to go check in on Teal'c, make sure he hasn't let anybody escape the infirmary on his watch. Can you finish taking the locks off again? I'll be ready to go in five."
Mac nodded numbly, still thinking about her words.
A/N: Please review!
(Also, we've officially hit 1,000 visitors on this story, thank you!)
